Kiev metro starts using Ingenico’s contactless readers

Ingenico has launched its iUC180B smart terminal in 17 central stations of the Kiev Metro, working with Oschadbank’s acquiring services and MasterCard.

The company also said that the entire Kiev metropolitan network will be equipped with the secure contactless card acceptance solution soon.

Contactless technology was introduced to the Ukrainian capital’s metro in June and last month MasterCard revealed that an estimated 1,500 contactless transactions are made daily, with the number is still growing.

Convenience is key

Ingenico stressed the overriding objective for public transportation companies is to bring convenience and innovative services to the people they serve.

“We are very pleased to have teamed up with Oschadbank, MasterCard and our partner BKC (Bancomzvjazok) and to launch contactless payment at metro turnstiles in Kiev. This alliance demonstrates our ability to provide far-reaching payment solutions to new segments like public transportation. We are helping the Kiev Metro to ease access to its network, and bringing the traveling experience to the next level,” commented Luciano Cavazzana, Eastern Europe and Africa managing director, Ingenico Group.

Andrei Pyshniy, the Chairman of JSC “Oschadbank”, added that this innovation has moved Kiev ahead of most world capitals. He’s not wrong as the city is only the fifth in the world to have adopted contactless technology in its public transportation system after London, St. Petersburg, Chicago and Bucharest.

The London model

The TfL recently revealed figures that said over 180 million journeys have been made using contactless payments on London’s transport network in the first year since its launch, breaking down to 625,000 contactless journeys per day, and 20 per cent of all pay-as-you-go and one in seven of all contactless transactions.

Modern realities

“Modern realities require the development of new solutions, and we want the Kyiv Metro to take the lead in their implementation. Today’s innovation is a significant step forward in introducing substantial changes in metro payment methods. Future plans are to enable recharging of metro pass cards using a payment card and possibility for remote top-ups to recharge accounts via Internet,”commented Victor Braginskiy, Head of the Kyiv Metro.

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